LaLiga match report Real Madrid v Espanyol 30 April 2022

Real Madrid claimed a 35th LaLiga title on Saturday evening after cruising to a 4-0 win over Espanyol at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The on-form Karim Benzema, Vinicius Junior, Dani Carvajal and Toni Kroos were named on the bench by Madrid following their pulsating clash with Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League.

Madrid should've had the lead on 13 minutes through a close-range attempt from a cutback by Carlos Casemiro following a corner-kick, but the post denied the forward.

Carlo Ancelotti's men started to drop deep minutes thereafter and afforded the visitors a route in off a 20-yard effort from Raul De Tomas, but goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois smothered.

A sense of calmness from Madrid prevailed following 33 minutes and as such they went ahead when Rodrygo picked off a pass from Marcelo before running inside to finish with aplomb.

Rodrygo helped himself to a brace in the last three minutes to halftime after he touched goal-wards from a loose ball and find the bottom-corner following a drop of the shoulder.

Scroll through the gallery to see the 10 confirmed transfers for next season

Matt Turner - joining Arsenal from New England Revolution

Hee-chan Hwang - joining Wolverhampton Wanderers from RB Leipzig on a permanent transfer

Niklas Sule - joining Borussia Dortmund from Bayern Munich

Lorenzo Insigne - joining Toronto FC from Napoli

Joaquin Correa - joining Lazio from Inter Milan

Jeremie Boga - joining Atalanta from Sassuolo Calcio on a permanent transfer

Ruben Vinagre - joining Sporting Lisbon from Wolverhampton Wanderers on a permanent transfer

Arkadiusz Milik - joining Olympique Marseille from Napoli on a permanent transfer

Matteo Guendouzi - joining Olympique Marseille from Arsenal on a permanent transfer

Pablo Torre Carral - joining Barcelona from Racing Santander

Espanyol nearly reduced the home side's advantage from a free-kick by De Tomas a minute in the second half, but the effort bounced wide of Courtois goal.

Los Blancos were able to stay calm and extended their lead with ten minutes from the break when Marco Asensio waited patiently for Eduardo Camavinga's through pass before finishing off the post.

With the host in complete control, Ancelotti decided to rung the changes and bring on the big guns 60 minutes gone in Isco, Benzema and Kroos.

Espanyol didn't drop their heads, but remained vulnerable nine minutes later as Isco converted Benzema's cutback though it was disallowed for offside following a pitch-side review.

The Periquitos still conceded a fourth ten minutes from time when Vinicius made a darting run to the area and delivered a low square ball for Benzema to tuck home from inside the area.

Madrid continued to search for more goals inside the final exchanges, but the four goals were enough to hand them the win and the title.

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